Of Death and Love, so similar the two
by Abborro68
Summary: In a previously peaceful kingdom, Charles Beckendorf is the son of a blacksmith who is more than meets the eye. Silena is the daughter of a member of the royal court but she has a mind of her own. War forces them together, but will it tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

**I own none of this except for the story plot. The characters and the pairings belong to Rick Riordan.**

Charles Beckendorf was easily the strongest person in his village. A son of the local blacksmith, he worked long hours in his father's shop, giving him a musculature that made all of the local girls practically drool over him. But he didn't want them. They never seemed like someone who could think for themselves. So he spent much of his time alone, either hunting in the nearby woods or just relaxing in whatever spot he found that appealed to him. And that is what saved his life.

 **Beckendorf POV**

I dozed peacefully in a small clearing I had discovered earlier that week when I felt a rumble in the ground. My eyes snapped open and I slowly sat up to investigate. What the heck was that? It was a constant sound and feeling, like a massive bee buzzing close. No wait a minute. It wasn't constant, it was getting louder. Slowly it got more and more obvious what it was. Hoof beats, and a lot of them. Sure I'd heard of the Horse clans up North, but as far as we had heard, they had never moved against the south before. But I had to check this out. Carefully, I began to jog back to the village. As I got closer, though, my concern turned to fear. I heard metal striking metal, yelling… and high screams piercing the air. Sprinting now, I burst into the clear and what I saw was chilling. Blood everywhere was bright red in the afternoon light. It ran in little rivulets from the nearby buildings, which I now saw were on fire, and I could now clearly see the painted and fur clad figures rounding up and murdering everyone I knew.

"Fuck!" I swore under my breath. I had no way of telling how many or who was dead, but I was very sure that the number would rise the longer I waited to intervene. But all I had was my usual hunting knife at my waist, which looked pitifully small against the massive axes and swords wielded by the invaders. I needed to get my sword out of my house. Thankfully, it was on the outside of town near the forge, but it was opposite of where I stood now. So I stealthily moved along the tree line until I was able to dart into the maze of houses I knew so well. Everything was on fire. Even the pigs and goats were slaughtered and it was all I could do not to throw up from the stench of burning flesh and hair coming from the houses. Finally I made it to my house. Dreading what I would see, I pushed the door open on its oiled hinges to see nothing. No bodies, no blood, nothing. Praying that my father had escaped, I sprinted up the wooden stairs to my room, rushed to my bed, and pulled out the hidden drawer I had built into its base, revealing the gleaming hand-and-a-half sword that was my greatest possession. Two years ago, I had finally perfected forging the weapons and made one for myself. I had hidden my ability from my father as I knew he hated war and everything to do with it.

" _No one must command your hand besides you, my son. Remember that if you are ever tempted to go looking for glory. Killing another changes everyone, and no one is ever the same person" I noticed a haunted look in his eyes as he said this, as if remembering some face from long ago._

But I had been enamored by the idea of glory, of knights and maidens waiting to be rescued like in the story books, so I started to study in secret how to make weapons. Slowly I drew the blade from the protective cloths wrapped around the metal, sheathed it in the custom sheath lying beside it, and turned. And standing in the doorway leering at me was the biggest and ugliest looking man I had ever seen. He raised his axe and grinned as he stepped toward me menacingly. Then he lurched forward as a glittering sword point suddenly appeared through his stomach. And standing behind him was my father, holding a massive sword with an ease that belied his relatively scruffy appearance. Looking me deaden the eyes with a powerful look that was completely alien to me, he spoke a single word.

"Run"

 **Silena POV**

I was running out of time. Why does this have to happen today? I asked myself. Because I was an idiot. I had wasted my time reading and had completely forgotten to go get the sugar that my father needed for his chocolate and cake shop. I was reading about the noble prince saving and marrying the trapped princess and had gotten so busy fantasizing that my mother had had to actually shake me to get me back to reality. Oh how I wished that kind of thing actually happened to people like me. But I was not trapped. Well, not in a tower anyway. My father was the royal confection maker, and ran a shop called Affection Confection, which was ironic because my mother was named Aphrodite. But life was so boring. I was trapped here, never allowed to go anywhere fun because that's not what a lady does. That's when 4 guards in the grey and orange uniforms of the royal palace. As they passed, I heard a little snippet of conversation.

"Coming south…Titans…destroying villages."

As they hurried away, I felt a cold fear run down my spine. Titans? They were the wild horsemen tribes in the north, and as far as I knew had never ventured south in the last 2 or 3 centuries. But they were reported to be fierce warriors, absolutely ruthless with their battle axes and swords, the name titan was feared by every child across the kingdom. If they were truly invading, that was bad. I hurried down the street back to my house, quickly opened the door and looked around for my father, but I just saw Aphrodite. She had a mirror (of course), and was fixing her makeup (which was already perfect so what was the point).

"Where's my father?" I asked her abruptly. There was no love lost between me and my mother. She was always primping and preening, while I preferred to be outside and practicing with my bow and arrows. She never approved of it so I tended to keep it a secret.

"I haven't the slightest idea dear," she said carelessly. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Well I was walking to get the sugar he needed, and I overheard some guards talking about the Titans. They said they were destroying villages and coming south."

"Oh?" she said loftily, not really paying attention, as per usual. "I don't know what to say to that dear. But I tell you what. How about a nice makeover? That always cheers me up." Then she smiled like that fixed everything. My mother may be the most beautiful person in the castle, but that did not account for the brains she seemed to lack.

"No! Oh never mind." I said, completely exasperated. "Forget it. Im going out. I'll be back later." With that I stalked out of the door. Somehow that woman always managed to piss me off. I grabbed my bow and quiver out of their hiding spot and headed for the stables where my horse was kept. I saddled her quickly and led her out of the door before mounting and cantering toward the front gate. The two guards posted at the gate stood as though they were bored, leaning on their pikes in the late summer heat. I smiled as I recognized them.

"Hey Connor. Hey Travis. How are you today?"

They were both sons of a noble in the court, Hermes, and while they weren't twins, sometimes it was easy to believe they were.

"Not too bad. How are you?" They both chorused. Turning to glare at each other, they said "Hey, I said that first!" again copying each other and starting to look annoyed now that the other was stealing his thunder. I watched this stare down in amusement until finally Travis turned to me, still grumpy, and asked,

"So where are you headed to this fine afternoon?"

"The woods. I need to blow off steam. I swear half the time Im going to go insane with my mother near me all the time."

"Ah got it" Connor butted in before his brother could talk. He cast a smug look at Connor before turning to me again. "Well, be careful," he said, winking at me. "The woods are dangerous to a beautiful lady such as yourself."

I rolled my eyes at him. He was a horrible flirt and was completely shameless.

"I will be. I'll be back before sundown." With that, I rode past them and spurred my horse into a healthy gallop toward the tree line visible from the wall. As I drew closer, I aimed for an opening in the trees that led to my favorite spot to practice. The shadows of the forest drew around me comfortably, like a familiar cloak, and I slowed to a trot before I finally stopped across a clearing from a dead tree. The tree bore scars from all my time using it as a target, but it still held firm. As I drew my first arrow, I sighted down it toward the tree, and as I was about to fire, something caught my eye. It was a glint of light off of metal, very like a drawn sword. All my fear about the titans rushed back to me in an instant, and I froze, completely unsure of what to do. That's when my brain started working again. The brief glitter had come from the ground, and as I looked, I started to see a shape emerge slowly from the undergrowth. It was a man not much older than I was, and he looked hurt. Very badly hurt. I carefully approached as he stopped moving, seeming unable to continue. I decided it was safe and hurried up to him. Kneeling at his side, I gently flipped him over so I could see his face. He wasn't anyone I knew, thank the gods, but I still started at the sight of him. He was handsome, even with a scraped jaw and lips cracked from dehydration. But I couldn't focus on that right now. Thinking quickly, I whistled so my horse walked over.

"Come on. Let's get you some help."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

 **Hey guys thank you so much for the follows and the interest. Im sorry I havnt posted the next chapter but school started and AP Calculus is a killer for free time. I should update within a few days though so stay tuned.**


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